[Plasma levels of apolipoprotein and HDL-cholesterol in patients with rheumatoid arthritis].

The authors have examined the levels of the plasma cholesterol and triglycerides, of the plasma lipoproteins (HDL, LDL, VLDL) and of their main apolipoproteins (apo-A and apo-B) in a group of 64 patients affected by RA and in a population of healthy subjects considered as a contrast group, trying to establish a plausible dislipidemic factor which could justify the major occurrence of coronary heart disease in those patients suffering from RA. Statistical analysis was done with the T-test. There are not differences in the lipoprotein pattern between the group of patients affected by RA and the population of healthy subjects. The obtained result seem to exclude that such a major occurrence of coronary heart disease in the patients suffering from RA may be linked to the alteration of lipidic metabolism.